Archives: News Stories

The dedicated students on Trinity’s SERVE Team, and the staff and professors who work with them, believe in making a difference. The SERVE Team recently volunteered their time, participating in the Annual Love Palos on Saturday, April 15^th. This event is based around helping and serving the community of Palos Heights. Volunteers cleaned up landscaping, picked up trash, and took part in taking care of the environment on and around campus.

“The day was nice; the weather was not too hot or cold and we were able to get a lot done – completing four projects around the campus. We met many of our Palos Heights neighbors and had great conversations with them,” said Bethany Moultrie ’25. “This event made me realize that it is very important to bridge the gap in our relationship and we cannot say ‘Love Palos’ if we do not know our neighbors.”

Click here to learn more about the SERVE Team and other student organizations at Trinity.

Dr. Abbie Schrotenboer, Associate Professor of Biology and Environmental Science majors Brendan Covell ’23 and Egna Setiawan ’23 attended and presented at The Wild Things 2023 Conference, which was held at the Rosemont Convention Center on February 25^th.

This annual event invites nature enthusiasts from across Illinois and beyond to learn about the flora, fauna, and natural history of the Prairie State. With a community of 3,000 volunteers, conservationists, and natural resource professionals, the 2023 Conference celebrated the 60th Anniversary of the Illinois Nature Preserves.

Dr. Schrotenboer was pleased to be able to attend the conference in person this year, as previously, attendance was limited to virtual participation during the pandemic. The Wild Things Community is recognized as one of the nation’s largest networks of people engaged with nature. The community comprises stewards, monitors, advocates, educators, Chicago Wilderness members, volunteers, and staff working together to promote and protect the prairies, woodlands, wetlands, wild yards, and natural parks of Illinois, northwest Indiana, and southeast Wisconsin.

Covell and Setiawan had the opportunity to present to a large panel of participants during the one-day session. During their time, they shared their research and findings, taking time to answer questions from participants about their project “Stream Macroinvertebrate Diversity Near Suburban Development vs. With a Forest Buffer.”  This project reviewed how aquatic macroinvertebrates respond differently to pollution and other stream conditions, so their composition can indicate general water quality. Using a macroinvertebrate Pollution Tolerance Index, they sampled two sites, one near suburban development and one with a forest buffer, for one year, checking for a difference in stream quality.

Covell stated how he enjoyed the experience and the chance to share the knowledge from the research they had worked so hard on, saying, “It was great to have questions from participants during our presentation – we were excited to share the things we learned from this project we have been working on for several months.”

Dr. Schrotenboer added, “Brendan and Egna have been a pleasure to work with.  It is fun to see them excited about conservation and caring for God’s creation and how they can find that synergy between their interests and what God is stewarding them toward in their careers.”

Through generous funding from the VanderVelde Junior Scholarship, the team gained knowledge from their research, networking, and hands-on experience.  Covell concluded, “This would be a great conference for future Trinity students to participate in – there was great value in the one-day event as it related to my major and career.”

Click here to learn more about the Environmental Science major at Trinity.

On the evening of April 12^th, the Nursing Student Organization (NSO) and Trinity Alumni Nursing Association (TANA) cohosted a networking event.

Dr. Sarah Gouwens, Associate Professor of Nursing, and faculty NSO sponsor, said, “It was a wonderful opportunity to see Trinity nursing students’ network with healthcare organizations as they prepare for their professional nursing careers.”

The event included current students, Trinity nursing alumni, and representatives from seven partner organizations. Nursing student Abigail Moore ’23 added, “It was a great night of networking among students and alumni and a great opportunity for job recruitment in healthcare.”

On March 30, 2023, The History Department at Trinity Christian College welcomed Dr. Jennifer Powell McNutt to present the inaugural Women’s History Month Lecture entitled, “Women and the Reformation Through the Lens of the Marys.” Dr. Powell McNutt serves as Franklin S. Dyrness Chair in Biblical and Theological Studies and Associate Professor of Theology and History of Christianity at Wheaton College

The lecture explored the important roles of women and female spiritual devotion played during the Protestant Reformation, nuanced narratives of Christian history that focus almost exclusively on men and, more broadly, invited considerations for the importance of women’s experience and viewpoints in Christianity.

Dr. Powell McNutt began by taking the audience to the south of France, sharing details of the journey where she traveled with her family to research the French Bible.  The trip took them to the region of Provence, where she began writing a book about the reception history of Mary Magdalene in the church and for the church today.

“Although the church’s reception of the Marys [Mary, the mother of Jesus and Mary Magdelene] is a huge topic, more than we have time to discuss fully, nonetheless to explore women in the Reformation through the lens of the Marys can give us insight into how reformers both male and female recognized, defined, and limited female devotion in the Christian life and how that hermeneutical perception shaped expectations and complexities for women in the reformation’s churches,” Powell McNutt explained.

She reviewed Martin Luther’s teachings during the Reformation, citing 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” In a letter to German nobility in 1520, Luther stressed that Peter’s words here were written for all Christians, not just men, but also “holy, pious women and even children.”

Powell McNutt concluded, “For women during the Reformation, the women of the Bible became especially important for providing permission, insight, and precedent for the faithfulness of their Christian lives.”

Dr. Powell McNutt’s forthcoming books include Know the Theologians and The Oxford Handbook of the Bible and the Reformation. She is currently writing a book for Brazos Press on Mary Magdalene.

This year we marked the Seventh Annual Trinity Tuesday, a day of giving across the Trinity community.  Through the support of over 802 donors and gifts, more than $164,146 was raised to help support students on campus today and secure the Trinity legacy for generations to come.

“Trinity Tuesday is always an exciting time on campus and throughout the TrollNation community. In less than 48 hours, hundreds of alums, students, parents, and friends of the College all come together in support of our students and the programs that serve them,” said LyNae Schleyer, Executive Director of Advancement.

Continuing the recent tradition, donors were offered the chance to select the essential and unique programs they wished for their dollars to support. For example, areas of need such as the In It Together campaign, which helps support students during unforeseen circumstances; Student Well-being with the recently launched My SSP platform providing students real-time access to mental health support; Community Alliance Fund (C.A.P), which gives students a way to earn while they learn; and the Area of Greatest Need, aiding in students’ tuition.

Schleyer added, “Trinity Tuesday is a universal time of heartfelt giving and camaraderie. We are so blessed by every gift and the messages of support we received throughout the day.”

Click here to learn more about this and other ways to support Trinity Christian College.

Trinity Christian College is pleased to announce the spring lecture schedule from faculty granted tenure.  Tenure lectures are a celebration of the mature Christian scholarship of our faculty colleagues. When we recognize these moments, we mark and extend our commitment to our core identity and mission as a College – and we rejoice at the gifted teacher-scholars in our midst!

Please mark your calendars and plan to join us in celebrating each of the gifts they bring to the Trinity community.

• Thursday, March 23rd at 4:00 pm
• Located in the Grand Lobby of the Chapel Auditorium
• Dr. Cini Bretzlaff-Holstein | Becoming More Fully Human through the Pursuit of the Peaceable Kingdom

• Thursday, April 13th at 4:00 pm
• Located in the Grand Lobby of the Chapel Auditorium
• Dr. Deb Majewski | In HIS Image – A Return to Magnificence: Life, Love, and Counseling

• Wednesday, April 19th at 2:00 pm
• Located in the Grand Lobby of the Chapel Auditorium
• Dr. Yeon Mi Lee | Epistemic Justice, Christian Faith, and the Mission of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

• Tuesday, April 25th at 4:00 pm
• Located in the DeWitt Lobby of the ArCC
• Dr. Sarah Gouwens

On a beautiful spring-like day in February, Trinity Christian College hosted its annual Black History Month Lecture featuring Dr. Nathan Cartagena, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Wheaton College. This year’s lecture was entitled: “Keeping the Faith: Derrick Bell and the Rise of Critical Race Theory,” which focused on Bell’s life and legacy as a lawyer, professor, and civil rights activist.

Professor of History Dr. David Brodnax, Sr. introduced his friend, and colleague, stating, “We are blessed this year to have [Dr. Cartagena] for our 2023 Black History Month lecture.” Dr. Brodnax spoke about the many publications and works in the life and career of Cartagena.

The lecture opened with a warm welcome by Cartagena “Let me begin with greetings and gratitude. I must express my gratitude to Drs. Kyle Dieleman and David Brodnax for inviting me to deliver Trinity Christian College’s annual Black History Month Lecture… this invitation is a tremendous honor to me.” Adding, “May what I say and what we consider grow us in the love of God, self, and neighbor.”

Cartagena provided rich details of Bell’s faith alongside his history and time working with the NAACP, his time with Medgar Evers and Thurgood Marshall, and chronicled his time at Harvard Law school, where Bell became the school’s first Black-tenured professor.

After the lecture, Cartagena took time for questions from the audience.  Here, he shared some of his favorite publications and books as reference materials for those interested to learn more about the life and history of Bell.

This year’s event was well attended by faculty, staff, students, and members of the Trinity community.

-Izzy Neibert ’23

Trinity offers many leadership opportunities for students. Whether working on the Student Activities Board or being a Residents Assistant, they allow all students to grow and thrive. One team creates opportunities for student growth, helping people outside of the campus in the process. The Serve Team at Trinity Christian College is a powerful group dedicated to Christ-centered service. This team organizes various service opportunities for all students, benefiting those both on and off campus.

Bethany Moultrie (‘25) recently joined the Serve team, beginning work in early August. After briefly going on a service trip to Kentucky in October, Bethany realized God gave her the heart and the passion for service. She then decided to switch her major, changing from History to Social Work. Working on the Serve team helped her find her calling. Bethany is excited to pursue Social Work, confident that she made the right decision. The Serve team and the opportunities they plan can help all those involved.

The Serve team provides many service opportunities to students. Affiliate Professor Nicole Saint-Victor, the supervisor for both the Multicultural and Service Student Leadership teams, explained some of the opportunities the Serve team worked on earlier this year. Alongside the Student Activities Committee, the Serve team went out to Feed My Starving Children, a local charity dedicated to ending child hunger.

In addition, the Serve Team has partnered with Made in The Image Ministry, a non-profit organization based in Chicago. This ministry group creates “on-ramps of dignity” for the unhoused throughout Chicago. The Serve Team plans to continue working with these organizations.

This team does not exclude their trips to the Chicagoland area. In what has turned into an annual journey, the Serve Team travels with students to Mayfield, Kentucky. Alongside Acts Ministry (located in Paducah, Kentucky), the students provide continued disaster relief for the people of Mayfield, for large natural disasters have completely ravished the area. This is their sixth time traveling to this site. Bethany explains this: “More than Just a Trip (the events tagline),… going to Kentucky can help improve you personally and the Trinity Community as a whole.”

A more local event that Serve facilitates occurs on April 15^th – Love Palos, according to Nicole Saint-Victor, is meant to be a connective experience. This event cleans up Trinity’s campus and the greater Palos area, connecting Trinity students with their neighbors. Nicole explained that the Serve team hopes to integrate student engagement “around humanity and belonging… [we are] constantly asking, ‘who is our neighbor?”

The Serve team provides opportunities for students to help their neighbors, whether right outside their dorm room or many states away. This team works hard towards this goal. Bethany explained that they “want the Serve Team to be similar to STAC where it has the same level of organization, representation, focus, and power…We need more support so we can do more…Join the team if you like to be challenged, learn patience, learn about yourself, learn how to network.”

Click here to learn more about the Serve Team and other student leadership opportunities at Trinity Christian College.

Trinity’s transformational approach to providing realistic tuition pricing and paid internships has garnered the attention of multiple news and media outlets across the country, bringing the College’s plan for debt-free education to the forefront of the national student debt conversation. Recent television features include ABC 7 News Chicago, The Fox News Morning Show – Fox and Friends, Newsy (Scripps News Company), and highlights on I Heart Radio.

In his interview with ABC 7 News Chicago, President Dr. Aaron J. Kuecker was asked about the motivation behind the Tuition Transparency and Access Initiative.  Dr. Kuecker explained, “We’ve gone to work on the front end to say, can we create economic pathways that prevent students from needing to take on so much debt? It’s just been important to us to think about the well-being of our students in that very holistic way, including their financial well-being. We want them ready to walk away from this place ready to contribute to their communities.”

The Tuition Transparency and Access Initiative, which was announced in October 2022, is designed to transform the often-confusing process of college tuition and financial aid by setting a realistic price to the actual cost of educating a college student, accessible to families across the income spectrum, and transparent about the process of college aid and scholarships.

When asked about the process of how students will benefit, Kuecker told Fox and Friends reporter Pete Hegseth, “We are giving our students the opportunity to connect with businesses as early as their sophomore year in paid internships that are resulting, for our students, in as much as $5,000 a semester in tuition grants.” Kuecker was pointing to the Earn, Network, and Learn Initiative, which connects students and employers in ways that provide significant mutual benefit. These paid internships, allow employers to connect with students who may help meet significant employment needs across sectors. This then allows students to receive tuition grants that support a move toward debt-free tuition while earning academic credit in a hands-on working experience.

In a January 2023 interview featured on Newsy (Scripps News Company), Dr. Kuecker talked about the impact of the initiatives Trinity has implemented and how they affect the overall well-being of the students. He shared, “For us, that is a way for us to say to our students, can we help you move the needle by making space in your schedule…to engage you with businesses that are seeking to do good…. the opportunity for students to Earn, Network and Learn with those business partnerships, we really can move the needle.”

With further appearances, such as an upcoming segment on PBS planned to air this summer, the continued engagement and traction through the media will help support Trinity’s initiatives and help forge new pathways in Christian higher education. “These are exciting times at Trinity,” said Kuecker. “We are taking bold, unique, and courageous action based on our convictions about God’s world and work, and we are honored to have the Trinity community join us on this journey.”

Trinity’s Clinical Mental Health and Counseling program has received accreditation from CACREP (Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs) after a lengthy process that began in 2019. As an accrediting body, CACREP is committed to developing standards and procedures that reflect the needs of a dynamic, diverse, and complex society. CACREP accredits master’s and doctoral degree programs in counseling and its specialties offered by colleges and universities in the United States and worldwide.

“Even though we [at Trinity] know we have a strong program, we wanted that validation from an outside body…and so we pursued that with CACREP,” stated Dr. Kara A. Wolff, Director of the Graduate Program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Adding, “we were excited this week to learn about the approval of our accreditation through 2031.”

Trinity’s Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program, which began in 2012, offers rigorous academic and professional training in counseling, combining theory, empirical research, and practical experience. Grounded in a Christian perspective, it teaches about integrating Christian faith and counseling practice and has graduated over one hundred students to date. It seeks to address the spiritual core of human life as responsive to God. It welcomes students of all faith traditions, emphasizing the formation of the whole person in each student’s training to answer God’s call to bring healing and restoration.

Dr. Wolff added, “The CACREP accreditation is a demonstration that experts in counseling have affirmed the high-quality training program that we have here at Trinity. What is really exciting about this is that it is great for our students to be able to pursue licensure more quickly and in various states, more easily.”

The program’s accreditation promotes excellence in counselor education and training. Holding this accreditation reflects Trinity’s ongoing commitment to developing and training highly qualified counselors. Additionally, the curriculum meets the educational and internship requirements for the Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor designations in Illinois and many other states.

To learn more, visit the Clinical Mental Health Counseling page.